Verification remains paramount, especially from certain sources

The movie "Lincoln" inspired me to read "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln," the book by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin upon which the movie is based.

Chad Killebrew

The movie "Lincoln" inspired me to read "Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln," the book by historian Doris Kearns Goodwin upon which the movie is based.I'm about 440 pages into the book so far, and one thing that strikes me is the role newspapers played in the nation during the time period of the mid-1800s. Many papers aligned with the various political parties, and their reporting would not be considered objective by any means. Yet most of the population relied on newspapers to learn what was taking place in the young nation.Contrast that with the outlets to which people turn today to learn news. Radio, television and the Internet all came along in the 20th century. Smartphones took off in the 21st century. Suddenly, people could turn to numerous sources to find out what was taking place.Yet newspapers remain, utilizing many platforms — print, web, mobile — to deliver the news gathered by professional journalists. The objectivity that was missing from partisan papers serves as a cornerstone of journalism today. Part of that objectivity means verifying information that may appear on other sources.That verification process can take time. Sometimes word may filter out on Facebook, Twitter or other sources that lack official confirmation. We hold back on publishing news until we can make sure of its accuracy.This can be frustrating when we know something has happened, such as a car accident that has claimed a life, but can't verify with law enforcement authorities. In this Internet age in which we live, people expect almost instantaneous news, but we're not in the business of reporting rumor and unverified accounts. We wait until reliable sources confirm the news before we publish.Another situation that sometimes occurs is when something appears on Facebook that people take as the gospel truth. The account may contain a morsel of fact, but other parts may be embellished or plain wrong. Yet people start passing it along before verifying it's true.We've dealt with that this week. A criminal incident that supposedly happened in northern Davidson County began spreading like wildfire. We had emails and calls asking about it. A call to the Davidson County Sheriff's Office revealed no prosecutable offense had taken place. I deliberately am being vague about the details, since we determined nothing occurred to warrant a story.Some callers wondered why we hadn't published anything. Those readers believed what they had read on Facebook. Yet the facts didn't match up with what was being shared.We work in the business of reporting the news. When we learn of a situation and confirm it, we will report it. We don't attempt to conceal news.Many people have lost faith in the mainstream media, and I realize that sentiment exists. All I can do is attest to our motivations and objectivity and assure them that we investigate incidents that readers tell us about, just like law enforcement authorities. But we maintain certain standards that must be met before a story can be published.Social media can help reporters do their jobs. It provides readers another way in which to communicate and makes the conversation more two-way. The Internet allows us to publish news quickly on our website, Facebook page and Twitter feed, such as the cancellations that took place Thursday with the forecasted winter precipitation.But plenty of examples exist of things posted on social media and other websites that turned out to be false. I always tell folks to read them skeptically until they can be verified by a reliable source. And sometimes these stories do make it into the mainstream media, too.I enjoy Facebook and keeping up with friends from here and afar. But I've learned to be careful when reading comments passed along without the poster's firsthand knowledge. The more sensational the news, the more skeptical I become.Chad Killebrew is executive editor of The Dispatch. He can be reached at 249-3981, ext. 215, or at chad.killebrew@the-dispatch.com.